Sophomore
by TheColorPurple
Summary: Pre S1. When Serena leaves for boarding school, Blair finds herself without a best friend. When new girl, Sophie, comes to Constance, she becomes Blair's new BFF. Serena is soon a forgotten memory, at least, until junior year rolls around...C/B N/S/O.C.


**A/N: Guess who wrote a new story today? lol**

**Ugh, I am the most horrible updater in the entire universe. Sorry for not updating my other stories :( **

**I _am _working on it though...**

**sigh, here is the(new) story-**

* * *

There was an awkward silence when he stepped into her room.

"Are you okay?"

_Well, that was a ridiculous question._

How did he think she felt? Her best friend had left for boarding school without even saying goodbye, Nate had gone to the Hamptons to go _boating_(of all things) when he had heard, and now she was left here with only _Chuck _freaking _Bass_ for company. And now he had the audacity to ask if she was_ okay_? Never mind that that was actually kind of sweet, and...caring, and, completely _un_-Chuck like.

Blair wanted to say all of these things(and maybe even kick and scream a little), but all she could muster up was, "How do you _think_ I feel?"

Chuck seemed to actually consider the question and, after a while, finally offered up, "Lonely."

"What?"

He sighed, and said, as if it was the most obvious thing on the world, "Well, to sum it up in one word: lonely."

Blair gaped at him. _Lonely? _Who did he think she was? I mean, sure, she felt more alone now because her best friend and boyfriend left, but that didn't mean she was..._lonely_...did it?

Chuck was looking at her with something akin to amusement on his face, and, for reasons unknown to even herself, she wanted to slap that expression off with all her might. I mean, don't get her wrong, she and Chuck got along. Enough to even call each other _friends_. However, they really didn't spend time alone with each other(except maybe when they plotted together, but still, that only meant, 'in a dark corner of a room' or, 'a secluded hallway at school', but never _alone_-alone like this) hence the, ever-present awkward silence.

Blair finally broke the silence that she and Chuck had fallen into again by clearing her throat, and finally admitting quietly, both to herself and him, "Okay, sure...lonely."

Chuck seemed to nod smugly at her, as if to say, "_I told you so,"_. Blair scowled, but that just caused him to shoot her an amused smirk, which helped her to finally manage a smile for the first time that day.

This time, the silence afterwards was less awkward and more...comforting, so Blair motioned for him to sit next to her on the bed. He seemed thrown for a moment, but relented, moving from his place leaning on the door frame. She watched as he kicked off his shoes and loosened up his tie as he propped himself on her pillows, against the headrest. The two of them were both still in their school uniforms, Blair having an urge to call him over right after school, needing someone ot talk ot after she had found out about Serena.

"What made you think that?" Blair suddenly blurted out, rather loudly. Chuck gave a questioning raise of his eyebrow, and Blair lowered her voice slightly, "I mean...what made you think I was..._lonely_?"

"Well..." Chuck started, "I, uh, saw the signs." he then seemed to flush at how how lame that sounded. Blair had no idea why, but to her, the sight of him, _embarrassed, _was kind of...cute? _Oh God, something was definetly wrong with her if she thought that was _cute_._

Trying to distract herself from these new thoughts, she asked, "What signs?"

Unfortunately, Chuck just flushed more at this question, and Blair had to remind herself that in _no way_ was that _cute_. Because _Chuck Bass _is _not _cute. She was so busy trying to distract herself that she nearly didn't catch Chuck's answer.

"You looked...sad. And, you were also _crying_, so, I don't know..."

Blair looked at him, and was glad to see that he didn't look embarrassed anymore, and she could push those feelings _away_ from her. "Yeah, I mean, Serena _leaves_ without saying goodbye, Nate's been acting weird, for some reason-" she said, on full rant mode now, "-my dad is almost never home anymore, my mom left for Milan, _again_-" she stopped herself, noticing that Chuck had looked uncomfortable at the Nate comment. She eyed him suspiciously. "Do you know something about Nate that I don't?"

She saw Chuck gulp. "Uh...no?"

Blair frowned at him, gears in her head already whirring. "You used to be a much better liar, Bass. Now, why has Nate been acting weird?"

Chuck ran a hand through his hair. _Nathaniel will most definitely kill me for this..._Before he could open his mouth though, Blair grasped his arm. "Tell me, Chuck."

He tried to ignore the way his heart started up when she touched him and instead focused on the way her gaze seemed to be broken, as if she could sense that the reason Nate was acting weird had to do with Serena. Chuck felt himself feeling sympathy for his brown-haired friend. _You're really an idiot for sleeping with Serena, Nathaniel..._

"Please?" Blair had started pouting, her red lips bunching up invitingly, she leaned in close, her mouth only a few inches from his. Chuck resisted the overwhelming urge to kiss her, and just decided to go out with the truth. He weighed the pros and cons in his head, wondering if she would even believe him.

He sighed, pulling back slightly, and Blair, for reasons unknown, felt a small disappointment grow inside her at the action. "Do you really want to know the truth?"

"Yes." Blair nodded eagerly, ready to find out why Nate had been acting so weird since Serena's departure. Besides, whatever it was, it couldn't be _that_ bad.

"Nate slept with Serena."

Or maybe it was.

* * *

Blair was frozen for what seemed like an eternity. She finally stuttered, "W-what?" _No, it couldn't be possible...Nate couldn't have...not with..._

Chuck looked at her with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Blair."

Blair resisted the urge to hug him at that moment. What did he even have to be sorry about? It was sweet to see that he was apologizing, even when he didn't even do anything. She realized that she had said what she had been thinking, aloud, when Chuck looked embarrassed again(she _had_ called him _sweet_, after all), and this time she _did_ hug him, reveling in the way his arms around her made her feel safe.

She pulled away, and then just looked at him, smiling, inwardly smirking when she saw him squirming under her gaze.

"Yeah, uh-" Chuck had jumped off from the bed, desperate to get away from her strong gaze. _Why was she smiling at him like that?_

"Chuck..." Blair's newly weak voice had pulled him back, when his hand was inches from the doorknob. He closed his eyes briefly before turning around. Now, instead of smiling, tears had formed in her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. Chuck slowly made his way to the bed, sitting back down. The bed dipped slightly under his weight, but he focused his attention on Blair's face.

A lone tear slid down Blair's cheek and Chuck wiped it away with his thumb, surprising both Blair and himself at the gentle action.

"How did it happen?" Blair asked quietly.

Chuck was going to refuse when she looked at him with pleading eyes. _Crap. _He could never resist those eyes. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, not wanting to relieve this tale, at least not to _Blair_.

"From up on a ledge I...I saw Serena dancing on top of a bar,-it was empty." he added, when he saw Blair's quelling look.

"Oh."

Chuck nodded, "Yeah...uh, then Nathaniel pulled her on his lap, and...Serena opened up a champagne bottle. They started kissing and then...well, I left before it got too graphic." Chuck smirked at the end, trying to make her feel better.

Blair laughed softly.

Another silence descended upon the two of them.

"So..." Chuck got up, seeming to realize how late it was. "I better go."

"Stay. Please." Blair pulled on the sleeve of his shirt, dragging him back down on the bed.

Chuck sighed dramatically, "Only for _you_."

Blair's pulse rate picked up considerably. _For me, he would only do it for me..._she thought dreamily._-Oh, God, what was she doing? she was practically swooning...for **Chuck Bass**! _

Chuck, seeming to sense the new direction of her thoughts, tried to quickly change the subject. He smirked, "Sleeping in your uniform, Waldorf?"

She blushed, only just realizing she was still wearing the Constance Billard's shirt and skirt. She was still even wearing her stockings! _How embarrassing._ Blair quickly scampered up and tried no to run into her walk-in closet. The result: she looked as if she was wearing a straight-jacket, walking so stiffly was she.

Chuck snickered at the sight, but that turned into a choking sound when Blair walked out wearing a _very_ revealing black negligee, that he had _a lot_ of difficultly trying not to look at.

Blair slid under the covers after going to brush her teeth and remove her make-up, hiding her body from sight, though her cheeks had turned a bright red.

Chuck stood up and shrugged out of his blazer, draping it on Blair's vanity chair, placing his tie on top of that, straightening it out so there were no wrinkles, trying to distract himself from the memory of Blair stepping out in the negligee.

As he also got under the covers, his hand accidentally brushed Blair's hip, and she turned even redder than before. Trying not to smirk, he turned of the side table lamp, so the only light left was the moonlight streaming in through the open window blinds.

There was another very long silence, until Blair, finally whispered, "Goodnight, Bass."

Since she thought Chuck was asleep already, a voice saying, "Goodnight, Waldorf." threw her by surprise.

She tried to fight the smile that was threatening to grow.

* * *

And though the two of them didn't realize it until morning, in the middle of the night, their hands had crept towards each other until their fingers brushed under the sheets.

_Chuck and Blair holding hands._

* * *

**A/N: okay, who else awwed at the many Chair moments in this chapter? I know I did! This won't be just a Chair story, though, as you probably saw by the summary. And, if you hadn't figured it out already, this story will be during sophomore year, up from when Serena left to the beginning of junior year. Also, yes, apparently Chuck did tell Blair about N/S, at least in this fic ;) Oh, and a full summary of the story is on my profile page :)**

**R&R!**


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